Sobering reasons Man Utd won’t sack Amorim revealed amid resignation and return to Portugal claims

Steve Pearson 08 Mar 2025 7:20 AM

Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim with the Manchester United club crest behind him

Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim has come under early pressure

Manchester United ‘should sack Ruben Amorim’, according to one reporter, though the sobering reasons why they won’t have been detailed amid ‘whispers’ from Portugal that Benfica are in the manager’s future.

Amorim has endured a difficult start to life at Old Trafford, with Man Utd still languishing in the bottom half of the table and exiting both domestic cup competitions on his watch. The 40-year-old is working with a squad largely unsuited to the tactical demands of his 3-4-3 formation.

A wing-back did arrive in the form of Patrick Dorgu in January, though United’s limited spending power ensured moves for preferred targets, Milos Kerkez and Nuno Mendes, were out of reach.

It’s expected to be a similar story in the summer, with Man Utd’s hopes of performing major surgery on their squad dependant on raising funds from player sales.

As such, there’ll be no quick fix for Amorim at Man Utd and per the latest from the Daily Mail’s Ian Ladyman, Amorim would not make it to next season under normal circumstances.

Ladyman declared ‘all reason and evidence tells us that Manchester United should sack Ruben Amorim.’

Justifying that bold claim, the reporter wrote: ‘Amorim’s team are unfathomably poor to the point where we are almost immune to it and accepting of it.

‘They are the worst United team since before Sir Alex Ferguson first assumed control of the first team in 1986 and they are not getting better.

‘In some ways they are regressing and a significant chunk of the blame for that sits with their young manager.’

But rather than pull the trigger on the Portuguese, Ladyman explained why Man Utd will keep faith with Amorim whose win percentage of 40% is well below predecessor Erik ten Hag (54.69%).

Sacking Amorim would put Man Utd back to square one

‘Football managers usually get sacked when clubs get desperate,’ continued Ladyman. ‘At Manchester United, it may be the other way round.

‘United are desperate, all right. Desperate not to go back to square one. Desperate not to have to start all over again. Desperate not to admit they’ve got it wrong once more.

‘It’s all this that stands in favour of Ruben Amorim and a stay at Old Trafford beyond the summer. What it’s not in his favour – so far at least – is the football.’

Yet despite Ladyman’s insistence Man Utd won’t oust Amorim, the reporter revealed the whispers coming out of Portugal is Amorim may leave of his own accord.

‘In Portugal, there are whispers that he is unhappy and that he is disappointed to have found things to be more chaotic and more challenging than he imagined at Old Trafford,’ the Mail reporter continued.

‘They wonder if he may come back home – possibly to Benfica – in the summer.

‘Amorim denies all this. He says he wants to stay in England to fight.’